Of Papers and Princes
by Strave
Summary: Kairi is a successful journalist, after a chance encounter with a brown eyed boy on a bike, she finds out this boy is the new cartoonist for the paper. but something is wrong about him. Slowly the clues unravel about Sora Avalon's past.
1. Chapter 1

Of Papers and Princes

By Strave

Intro. Kairi is a successful Journalist; one day a chance encounter brings her face to face with a hazel nut haired boy. Is he just a cartoonist or is he hiding something? SoraXKairi (other pairs decided later) Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts or any of the characters. Chapter 1

Kairi Page briskly walked down the crowded sidewalk, even though hundreds of people crowded the street, it was odd to her that she seemed to move so smoothly, as if she was impervious to the bumping walkers. After all, this was Traverse City. Her auburn hair down to her shoulders, she was in mid twenties, and wore a female suit jacket with a skirt. Her destination being only a few blocks away, she proceeded across the street.

SCREEEEEECH!

"Hey lady get off the damn road!" yelled the driver of the taxi that narrowly missed her.

"Shut up! Can't you see I'm walking here!" She yelled back. 'The nerve' she thought.

Unlike most days, Kairi was having a particularly bad day today, she had slept through her alarm clock, only to be woken up by the constant meows of her cat, realizing she was late for work her day proceeded to get worse. She spilled the coffee, missed the bus, had to ride the subway, missed her stop, got off, and now we find her walking towards her workplace. THE OATHKEEPER, one of the few newspapers in the area, one reason was because it was run by a foul-mouthed 'geezer', whom she knew was going to chew her out for being late.

"WATCH OUT!" CRASH…

Kairi came to her senses a few seconds later, she opened her eyes and stared into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes, and the face of a angel, hazelnut hair falling over his face, who…

"You just hit me with your GOD DAMN bike! You idiot watch where you're going!" Kairi glared at the boy, and then stared at her brief case and the papers lying all over the sidewalk, now being trampled by the passing crowd. 'mother of god…'

"Ma'am I'm incredibly sorry, I didn't see you when I came around the corner…" now looking straight at her, he was at a loss of words, she was beautiful, even her pouting face and her glaring blue eyes, seemed to compliment each other magnifying her true self.

"I…I… he said dumbfounded.

"Well? Are you just going to sit there like an ass?"

"Ah! Oh," he said coming back to his senses, "yes, I'm so sorry, here let me get some of these for you." He proceeded to scramble about picking up her papers. After he handed them to her he picked up his bike and shoulder bag and hopped back on his bike.

"Well, I'm real sorry about that, are you alright?" said the brown haired stranger.

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"Well, um, ok, well I'll go now." He blundered. 'Nice one, idiot' he said to himself.

"Good for you." She stabbed back, it was apparent to him she was having a bad day. He turned and biked off, leaving behind an even grumpier Kairi.

The rest of the walk to her building was filled with a river of cursing flowing from Kairi's mouth. (_A/N yes yes, Kairi is quite the potty mouth_)

"Just great…" realizing her impending doom at the hands of her editor, now even more tardy for work, the disheveled reporter trudged up the stairs of the office complex, reaching her level.

"Good morning everyone…" she sighed.

"Kairi!" a yellow flash came out of a cubicle and hugged her tight. She was a brown haired girl wearing a bright yellow dress.

"Yes, nice to see you too Selphie. Now off me, bad day, no touchy."

"Oh, got it." She backed down like a dog scolded by its master. "Here's some coffee." handing a cup to Kairi.

"Kairi you're extremely late." said another girl, this one dark haired, more scantily dressed you could say, her tank top and shorts were not the kind of clothes you'd see in an office, more like a hot summer day on a beach, an odd bandana tied around her head, a digital camera hung around her neck as she chewed on a pencil, leaning on the desk.

"Cid is going to have a field day with this." She bluntly stated.

"Yuffie, I love you to death, but right now, shut up."

"PAGE! MY OFFICE NOW!" yelled a coarse voice.

'Here it comes' Kairi told herself.

Kairi regained her composure and marched into her editor's office. "Yes Mr. Cid?"

"Ms. Page, do you know what time it is?" grunted the yellow haired man.

Kairi responded with some sarcasm. " Eight Thirty?"

"Its time for you to GET SOME FUCKING WORK DONE AROUND HERE!" he barked, face turning slightly red.

"Okay old man, I'll be right on it." She smiled at him and turned to go, she knew her job was not in jeopardy, she was one of the best writers for miles, and Cid just had a bad temper.

'The fact that I'm an hour and a half late doesn't contribute at all' she sarcastically reminded herself.

"I ain't no old geezer!" he screamed, turning even redder! His fists raised in the air, suddenly he stopped. "Oh, Kairi, one more thing, the new cartoonist just arrived, ever since the old one broke his hand we've been looking for a new one."

'Yeah, I bet losing his hand was devastating, now his left one has to try and make up for the time down in his pants.' She chuckled at the thought.

"Well, since you think its so funny, you don't mind showing him around, and to his office do ya?" this not being so much a question more like a sarcastic command, Kairi, a little taken back, now slumped her shoulders.

"Fine, where is the new guy?" she croaked.

"Here he comes, right behind you." And into the office she heard a pair of clumsy footsteps. Kairi turned around only to see…

She dropped her coffee. "GODDAMIT PAGE!" yelled Cid.

There standing in front of her was… "THAT JACKASS FROM EARLIR!" her jaw dropped.

"Well I see I've sure made a good impression on you." He shyly remarked rubbing the back of his head.

Cid spoke up, "You two have met before? Wait, it wasn't at a bar or club or anything?"

He said implying what most people would in this given situation.

"What? NO, I didn't sleep with him, he's this jackass that hit me with his bike this morning. MADE ME EVEN MORE LATE!" Kairi, now the one turning red, not only from a slight blush at Cid's remark, but also from anger.

"Oh…well then, get on with it, show him around." Cid shooed them out of his office, not occupied with how to clean up the darn coffee.

"Hehe, I didn't know you worked here," he held out his hand, and innocent smile on his face, "I'm Sora Avalon, nice to meet you…miss?" he questioned for her name.

She pushed his hand away and walked past him, "Names Kairi, its not to great meeting you, now come one new guy." She walked away.

"Ah!" Sora yelped "…Kairi wait for me!"

"That's MISS Kairi to you bud." She said not even turning around, only holding up a correcting finger. 'This is going to be a long day…'

_(A/N: Wow, I really hope I'm doing justice to the story in my head, anyways, I hope you all liked the first chapter, please tell me what you think. And yes, kairi does act like a New Yorker; she really does have quite a mouth, poor Sora.)_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts or any of the characters…

**Chapter 2**

The office…infamously know for the wild papers thrown everywhere, the stereotypical employees, and of course, late nights consuming gallons of coffee. THE OATHKEEPER main room was no different…

"C'mon new guy, this way." Kairi ushered. Sora quite frequently would stop to look at something someone was typing, leaning close over their shoulder, this of course freaked some people out.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Sora's shirt collar pulling him away from his latest shoulder peeking victim.

"Yo, Kai is this the new guy?" asked Yuffie.

"Yeah," she glared at him, "I've got to show him around."

'Man this girl is real strong' Sora thought, admiring how Yuffie nearly lifted him off the ground. He plastered an innocent smile over his face. "Um…I guess I haven't introduced myself, I'm Sora."

"Nice to meet you Sora." Yuffie set him down and leaned in real close to his face, "Have we met before?"

"Um, not that I can recall." He replied giving a nervous laugh.

"Hey Selphie come check out the new guy!" yelled Yuffie.

"NEW GUY?" Selphie appeared from around a corner with lightning speed, and in a second was inches from Sora's face. "Wow, he's cute." This caused Sora to sweat a little, Kairi who couldn't take Selphie's man-hunting proceeded with the tour.

"Alright new guy, lets go." Kairi grabbed him and continued to drag him through the office. "You just met Yuffie, she's my photographer for most of the articles I write, don't mess with her, last time someone tried anything funny on her, she broke both of their wrists, and threw him out the window."

"Charming."

"The hyper one was Selphie, she's the one that pretty much gives us assignments on where to go and what to report on."

"Ah the yellow dress girl."

"Yeah her." Finally reaching their destination she threw Sora in the abandoned cartoonist cubicle. "Their you go, home sweet home, I hope your good at drawing kid."

"Haha, well, I don't like to put it int terms of good or bad, cause everyone has potential…" he was cut off.

"Yeah yeah, you've got your first deadline on the desk, and hopefully things will turn out alright and you won't screw up. Any questions, don't ask me, there are other people who could care more." She delivered her harsh speech and turned to leave.

Only to be stopped by a hand grabbing her arm.

"Wait, Miss Kairi," softly said Sora, "I'm really sorry about earlier with the bike, I didn't mean to give you such a bad day." Kairi tilted her head to look at his, staring into his sweet eyes, she somehow felt warmth go through her and she knew he really felt responsible for her bad day.

After a long silence."…no…it' ok Sora," she finally said his name, "it's not your fault." His hand felt so…

"Hey Page, already hitting on the new guy?" mocked a blonde haired man in the doorway.

"Ack!" Kairi quickly removed her hand and yelled at her surprise attacker, "TIDUS!"

"Didn't knew you were so quick, if I knew that, I woulda asked you out myself."

"Tidus, you have three seconds to run for your dear sweet life…1…2…" Kairi counter with fiery eyes.

"Oh shit!" Tidus bolted from the doorway.

"…3!" Kairi flew like a thunderbolt, on the heels of Tidus waving her briefcase around, "…I'll show you, you blonde bastard!"

"HEEEEELP!"

Sora just stood there, quite puzzled. "um…what just happened?"

A few weeks had gone by.

Today was like any other day, all the employes slowly came into the office, one by one.

Kairi showed up, her usual suit jacket and skirt, along with Selphie, who had a fetish with yellow, and Yuffie, her usual fetish with tom-boy skimpiness. One of the last ones to stumble in was Sora, Kairi had mostly managed to stay away from him, but of course, any time the saw each other or passed by one another, Sora gave her a big smile and she just walked away.

Today Kairi was to receive her new assignment, supposedly something big enough to make the front page. Kairi sat impatiently at her desk, eagerly awaiting the chance to grab her pad and recorder, drag Yuffie along, and get the action rolling.

But Cid for some reason seemed a little discouraged, as he sat in his office.

Kairi could lean over her desk and peek in through his window, all she could see was him staring at a large envelope, letting out continual sighs. Finally he signaled for Selphie to deliver them.

Kairi's heart was pumping, 'What could it be!' she excitedly thought.

"Kairi, here's the new order." Selphie tossed it to her.

"Motherofgod FINALLY!"

"Whats it about Ki?" asked Yuffie leaning over her shoulder.

"Lets see…" Kairi read the contents of the envelope, slowly taking in what it had to say, "…wow, it seems that Aeris, of the Strife family is really sick, her condition is worsening every day, they are not sure if she's gonna live or not."

"Well that explains why Cid was so sad." Barked Yuffie.

"What do ya mean Yuf?"

"Well, ya see, a long time ago, when THE OATHKEEPER was just starting out, it ran into some financial difficulty, but then for some reason, Cloud, the head of the Strife family gave Cid a large sum of money, ever since then Cid's tried to pay them back, but Aeris refuses to take it. He has become really attached to their family, I don't know what Cid would do if Aeris died."

"Omagawd, I didn't know THAT." Selphie's jaw dropped.

"Neither did I." Gawked Kairi.

After a while of just sitting there, Kairi finally took charge. "Okay Selphie, schedule me an interview with one of the Strife family, ANYONE, just get it done, then get a meeting set up with Riku from the Jenova family."

"Wait wait, as in Riku…the really hot son of the Strife families arch nemesis, Sephiroth?" Yuffie, shocked at the proposition Kairi had asked.

"Yeah, that way we also know how the families enemies feel about a loss in the opposing family, you see, for years they've fought over government positions, land acquisitions, Sephiroth's intentions being a bit more corrupt than Cloud's however, this will DEFINITELY make the front page."

"Well, okay." Sheepishly agreed Selphie.

Right as they were all separating, to get ready, Yuffie halted and leaned over to Kairi.

"Don't look now, but the cartoon guy's been listening in on us." Yuffie leaned her head, focusing her camera lens on the spiky haired man, he was leaning against the door to his room, his tie loose around his neck and his button up shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Wow," whispered Yuffie, "He sure can pull that look off, too bad you were the first one to get to him."

Kairi blushing excessively at this, "WHAT! I didn't 'get' to him at all, now go get you goddamn stuff and lets go."

"Whatever you say captain my captain." Yuffie snickered off.

Kairi looked over at where Sora had been standing only to see hi not there. She looked around curious, and only caught a glimpse of his shoulder disappearing down the staircase hallway.

'I wonder where he's off to." She brushed the thought away and readied her stuff, she was NOT going to let this opportunity get away.

Meanwhile at the manor of the Strife family.

"Roxas please come here." Said Aeris weakling, beckoning her son to come. She lay in her large room, pillows softening her head against the bed.

"Yes mother?" He replied kneeling by her bed.

"How is the search for your brother going…?" she questioned, her eyes large almost to the brink of tears. She knew her condition was worsening.

"Mother," Roxas said, lowering his head, "he's been gone for many years now, chances are that he's dead, he shouldn't have run away in the first place." Roxas's words were filled with anger that plagued the teenage boy continually, and yet underlying it was a deep sense of pain for the love of a brother he barely remembered. He could only barely remember him, but he did remember how caring he was, always thinking of others, always smiling, Roxas missed him…until that day.

"Roxas…" Aeris touched his hand and looked into his eyes hoping for a sign of hope, "please don't give up on him, I KNOW he's still out there, I can feel it."

"…" Roxas knelt there for many minutes, the silencing seemed to fill the whole manor.

"Fine mother, I will personally get the best police force on the search, I will not rest until he is found."

Aeris seemed very relieved, her body relaxed as she drifted off to a deep sleep. "Thank you…I love…you both…so much." Were her last words before she was swept away into rest.

Roxas rose to his feet, taking out his cell phone he dialed the police chiefs office number.

"Yes? Is this officer Leonheart, good, I have another assignment for you, yes, I will come down to the station personally to debrief you. It's about my older brother. We're going to find him." He hung up the phone and continued to march down the long lavish hallway.

"Sora… where are you? You bastard."

**(A/N: aahhh, I bet you all were expecting that right? Oh well, at least I try. R&R plz!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I STILL do not own kingdom hearts or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 3**

Kairi stared into her reflection on the bus window. As dull and boring as a bus ride seems, it always has a way of helping people reflect on past events. One this particular ride, Kairi was reflecting on the incident in the office.

_Flashback_

"_Kairi, I got the interview with both families set."_

"_Thanks Selphie, you're the best."_

_Cid suddenly yelled from across the room, "Where the hell is that damn art kid!"_

"_He left about ten minutes ago sir." Said a clerk near Sora's room._

"_Where the hell did he go!"_

_End of flashback_

Indeed that was the question, where had Sora gone? Kairi remembered the look on his face when she glanced at him before he left. His face held shock, and worry, what had she done to make him seem that way? She remembered reading out her assignment, but surely Sora didn't care THAT much about the Strife family.

"Gah, who cares, it's not like it has anything to do with me anyways."

Her bus pulled up to her stop. After she got off she walked over to a large gate to an enormous estate. A large span of well kept grass and hedges occupied the distance and in the far background could be seen a large mansion, of classic style.

"Wow, that's really a good shot." Piped Yuffie as she snapped a couple of shots from her camera, she of course had traveled with Kairi the whole way, but had spent her time looking through her old photos.

"Yuffie, don't you ever stop taking pictures?" asked Kairi.

"What? Why would you, the way I see it, every picture you take captures a moment, and sometimes," she said with a slight smile, "you capture the perfect instant that can never be found again." Slowly she used her fingers to make a frame around Kairi's face.

Kairi just stood there, blinking at the deep remarks she could not really relate to.

"Yeah…well, what were you looking through earlier?"

"Oh, I was looking for pictures I took a while ago, when I first started out, this is a little embarrassing but I was looking for pictures of that Sora guy."

Kairi immediately jumped at his name and ran right up to her.

"Sora! Since when have you taken pictures with him?…Ohmagawd…you two didn't get freaky did you…?" Kairi was defiantly on the brink of exploding.

"Hahaha, no, don't worry, it's just," Yuffie paused from her snapshots and just looked into the distance, "I remember almost every picture I take, and I'm almost positive I've seen him before, but I can't remember where."

Kairi noticed the time and quickly changed the topic, "Well, we're going to be late for our meeting with Riku Jenova. Come on, this is a once in a life time opportunity." Kairi flashed her badge to the gatekeeper and the door slowly swung open.

"Okay okay." Yuffie sighed and dragged all her equipment along the path past the gate.

Meanwhile in a dimly lit office at police headquarters.

"So what's the assignment this time boss." Casually said a flaming-red-haired man. He was leaning on the side of the door, dressed in a dark blue suit. He flicked out his lighter and cigarette.

"Investigative search. From the Top." Said the other male, he was wearing a black suit and had brown hair; he wasn't wearing a tie, and looked as if he had just gotten out of a street brawl. Yet everything about him, his walk, talk, and appearance was cool and collected.

"Woah, the TOP is involved 's the target? Celebrities dog? Politicians 16 year old, or Pamela Anderson's Dild….."

"Lost Prince," he sharply interjected "apparently went missing a few years ago, with no trace or evidence, the past investigation teams deemed it a lost case, but it's been decided that it is being reopened."

"Well then," getting off from the door, the red haired man glided over to the brown haired man, "it seems we have our work cut out for us, don't we Squall?"

"The names Leon, and it's 'Sir' for you especially Axel."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Axel walked by Leon waving off Leon's remark.

Kairi had been waiting in the lobby of a huge room, nearly an hour had passed since she first got there to await her interview with Riku Jenova.

"Guh, Kairi can we just go home, it's getting late." Yuffie sat cross-legged on the chair next to Kairi. "Does it really matter if we interview this guy?"

"Yes it does Yuf. See, over the years there have been to prominent families in the area, they aren't directly involved in politics or anything, but their influence is spread throughout the country, but these two families, the Strife and Jenova, have been in constant quarrels with each other. Even to the point of physical violence…"

"Wow, its like Romeo and Juliet. Speaking of which, I wouldn't mind letting Riku be MY Romeo." Yuffie chuckled at her naughty thoughts.

"Yuffie, do you ever stop thinking about guys, I mean honestly," Kairi sat up straighter," look at me, I'm single and proud of it."

"Don't worry Kai!" Yuffie interrupted slapping her on the back. "Someday you'll meet a guy who can really _please_ you."

"What? That's not what I was…" Kairi was interrupted by a secretary coming through the door.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry but Master Riku will be in his business conference a little longer, so if you don't mind I'm sure he'll be done soon."

Kairi laid back and sighed as the secretary exited the room through the door on the other side of the room. "Jeez, she told us that half an hour ago…"

Kairi waited for a response from Yuffie but when she looked where Yuffie should have been she was gone. Kairi searched the room and found her picking the lock on the first door the secretary came in through.

"Yuffie!"

"Shh, Kai, I learned to do this a couple years ago, you've got to be aggressive to make it to first base right?"

"Well yeah but…huh, wait did you say first b…"

She gave Kairi a big grin and finished with the lock. "After you."

"Sometimes I think you really are crazy you know." Kairi smirked.

They proceeded through the door, and after some walking came to a hallway filled with large doors, each leading to a different chamber.

"God it's like a maze, I guess we'll have to split up."

"Okay, you go one way, I'll go the other."

They spread out, and with every door Kairi opened she got more concerned, what if they were caught? What if she walked right in on the meeting, What if she loses her job for this?

"God Yuffie what did you get me into." Before Kairi opened the next door she stopped. There were voices coming from the other side, one she recognized as Riku's, she had heard it on the news before, it was icy and calm, almost as if he was older than he looked.

But the other voice she didn't quite recognize, she thought she had heard it before, but the tone was very serious. Kairi leaned in closer to listen.

"_So even after all this time you couldn't stay away?"_

"_Look, you know I wouldn't come if it wasn't urgent. I heard about…that?"_

"_Well... it seems the dilemma you are in right now has no positive side to it."_

"_Yeah, if only there was some way."_

Suddenly, for Kairi had been leaning too much on the door handle, the door swung open and she fell inside the room. She heard a chair slide back and a person stand up. She regained some sense and looked over to see Riku standing up glaring at her.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE! Who are you!" Yelled Riku giving her a glare that could make a child cry.

"I…I…" Kairi was pinned down by his stare, it made her tremble inside and her whole body shiver at his icy eyes. She would definitely lose her job for this…

After a pause another voice spoke.

"Miss Kairi?"

(A/N- yay, chapter 3! Well, I hope you all are enjoying it, please read and review and tell your friends about it, and THX to all you who have reviewed so far, it was really appreciated!)


	4. Chapter 4

(A/N…Thank you for all of the reviews everyone has so graciously given, some of them really helped and I also appreciate the positive feedback, I'm hoping I wont receive any bad reviews…cries…I love you guys and you great feedback!)

**Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts…cry**

Chapter 4

"So Squall, what have you found so far?" grunted Axel, as he walked into the dark room only lit by a computer screen and a small lamp. The desk was littered with newspapers, and photos were posted all over the wall. They depicted a small brown haired boy with bright blue eyes.

"Not much so far, almost all the trails lead to a dead end. Save a few. Other than that I can't find much."

Axel sighed as he pulled out a bag of popcorn and set the microwave to make buttery corny goodness. "It's been so long that any trails that would have been there are long gone. It's like trying to find a damn ghost. What DO you know then?"

"Previous reports suspect abduction. Possibly Jenova."

"Definitely motive there. Getting rid of the heir would be points for there team."

"But no proof so no leads, so no case. There were no signs of a struggle, no signs of a break in, it really is like a GHOST. He just disappeared."

They both sat quietly for a minute, Squall utterly frustrated, then Axel spoke up.

"Well, looks like I'm gonna have a dateless weekend again. Oy you wanna hand me those security camera tapes from the strife mansion over there."

Slowly shoving some tapes into the bag and handing to Axel Leon asked "Yeah sure, what for? I've already checked them."

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

"Well, these tapes have the last moments before that brat disappeared right?" Axel grinned as he pulled out the steaming bag of Popcorn and poured it into a bowl. "Which means if theres a clue it'll be in there. And no one better at watching the tube than I am." he grinned as he plopped down on the coach. "AND no ones better at finding ghost in the background than I am."

"Hmph" Leon closed his eyes with a smile. "Well, I guess I'll leave it to you then." He said as he got up to leave. "oh and by the way Axel…"

"Yeahmph." Replied Axel shoving another handful of popcorn in his mouth.

"Get your damn Microwave out of my office."

Kairi was about ready to die, she had just interrupted a meeting with one of the most important political and economical figures in the area, she would defiantly lose her job for this. Riku stared at her coldly, his icy eyes freezing her body, she couldn't even compile a good reply to his question of why she was there. Then a third voice spoke, it was soft and right she it spoke she felt warmth in her enough so she could move again.

"Miss Kairi?"

Kairi, slowly turned her head to look at the person sitting in the opposite chair to Riku, and when she saw who it was, it was as if time had froze, even the curtains of the great room that were swaying in the wind of the open window seemed to flow slower, then freeze. Then she slowly cooed his name.

"Sora?"

Sora stood up and walked over to her, and time slowly came back into play. He knelt down and helped her sit up straight, he extended a hand to her and helped her up.

"Miss Kairi what are you doing here?" Sora quietly asked.

"I…I," she couldn't say anything, she just kept staring into his eyes, they seemed so caring and thoughtful, she had never felt this innocent feeling coming from a man.

"Sora do you know this person?" Riku interrupted, they both remembered the situation and came back to their senses.

"Uh, yes, I work with her, over at the newspaper." He then looked back at Kairi, "Miss Kairi please tell me, why are you here?"

"What!" Kairi suddenly came to the realization, "'What am I doing here?' What are YOU doing here! How could someone like you possibly know, or even realize who a person like him IS!"

Sora suddenly looked very uncomfortable and glanced over at Riku, searching for some kind of help or relief. Riku, walked over slowly, his dark blue suite seemed to flow along with his movements.

"Sora and I have had previous associations together, that's all you'll need to know." Riku spoke with a voice much calmer as he and Sora continued to look at each other as if speaking telepathically.

Suddenly the door flung open again and this time the blonde secretary was there with two guards. Behind her the guards were holding Yuffie, looking very ruffled and angry as well.

"Master Riku, I found this girl wandering the halls, I believe there is another…" she noticed Kairi being held in Sora's arms, "…ah, I see you found her master Sora." She continued to stare at the two with her face beginning to turn a little red with embarrassment. Sora realized how closely he was holding Kairi and they both jumped back away from each other.

"No no no it's not like that!"

Riku interrupted. "Thank you Namine, please take that one away and I'll leave this one to Sora to escort out."

"Yes sir." She turned around and went to look at where Yuffie had been.

…

Everyone in the room stared at the empty spot where she had been. Even the guards slowly turned and realized that the person they were 'guarding' was gone. (A/N haha sneaky Yuffie)

"…" Namine turned slowly to face everyone and a rather large blush could be seen on her face. "um…yes…well…if you will all excuse me, I have business to attend to."

She walked out with the guards and as the door shut behind them a large hustling could be heard as well and the frantic 'How could you let her escape!'.

Sora and Kairi just stared blankly at the door as Riku gave a small chuckle from across the room.

"Well Sora I guess since you know her you can escort her home, I have places to be."

"Uh..yeah…sure." Sora said slightly blushing. Then Kairi barked at Riku as he walked to the exit opposite the room.

"Hey you! Wait! I'm scheduled to interview you!" Riku did not pause, he just casually walked out of the room and chuckled.

"I'm sorry then, I'll be more than willing to talk to you the next time you break into my conference hall." Kairi stopped where she was and a sweat drop fell down the back of her head.

"Oh, I see, well, I guess I'll reschedule then…hehehe." She sat down in the closest chair and gave a long sigh as the door Riku went through closed with a loud bang. "Great, there goes my story. Damn."

Sora sat down next to her and just looked at her in the face, he noticed how beautiful her features were. "You know, it's not good for someone like you to curse that much, it causes stress, your too pretty to say bad words like that."

Kairi furiously blushed at this comment.

'What? Am I blushing at Sora? No way. But… he did just call me pretty.'

"What's it to you?" she said trying to maintain her tough attitude."

"I guess it really isn't an of my business, sorry." Sora looked away and stared out through the window. Kairi realized that Sora really wasn't trying to be a jerk like most men, he just tried to show some concern. The silence was very solemn so Kairi decided to lighten it up.

"So Sora, I guess we can't stay here forever, shall we go?" she gave him a rare smile.

"Huh? Uh, yeah I guess. Sure." He was taken back by her sudden change in mood.

"Maybe we can stop and get some coffee? I guess it's been a long day."

Kairi gave him another warm smile, "Sure Sora, that would be nice."

"So Riku, who were you having a meeting with?"

"That's none of your business Kadaj."

Kadaj was the younger brother of Riku, both the sons of the Jenova family. They were in a room, filled with red curtains and couches and an evil fire burned in the fireplace. Kadaj was seated in a small chair next to the fire and Riku stood next to the window staring out onto the passing people. Yet one more figure was in the room, he was seated in the large armchair facing the fire.

"You wouldn't be getting into anything distracting you from our purpose are you?" spoke the figure, his voice smooth yet mocking.

"No, I am still devoted to the cause." Riku had to squeeze through his clenched teeth.

"Good. I spent the day organizing the underground gangs that we will use to take over the Strife family, it's quite ironic that the people that Cloud tries to help are the ones most devoted to his downfall. With the disappearance of his first heir, it will be easy to take down the other."

"How shall we kill him father, quick and easy or painfully slow?" hissed Kadaj, a bloodthirsty smile creeping over his face. His hand twitched at the feeling of his special weapon in his hand.

"I guess it depends on how easy it all goes." Said the figure.

"Tch." Spat Riku, their conversation sickened him, they spoke of killing people as if it were a daily chore, something that was just an errand. 'Of course, with the countless people that have already died, it's no wonder they've become desensitized.'

"You disagree Riku?" The chilling voice of the dark speaker echoed throughout the room. " I feel EVERYTHING that you think, you cannot hide from me your feelings."

Riku cursed himself for showing his emotions to easily, he'd have to be more careful from now on.

"No, of course not, I would ever think of going against you…father."

The dark shadow rose and the fire reflected off his face in a way that made his sharp features look even more devilish.

"Good…Mwahaha" His slow laugh became louder and eventually filled the room to its peak. Riku felt enormous pressure form in his chest and Kadaj gripped his sword tightly from this pain inside. Such was the bloodthirsty power that could be felt….

…from Sephiroth.

Kairi was laughing so hard that tears were forming in her eyes. It was almost nighttime and she and Sora had been there talking for hours. Their coffee cups long empty, their chatter had made them completely forget about the people that were passing them by, giving them weird looks at their mindless laughter.

Kairi slowed her laughing enough to fit in a couple words. "haha…Sora…that's hilarious…haha…you never told me you had…ha…a brother." She wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah we had some fun times, wow, there was this one time we were playing hide and seek and I told him to count to twenty, so I went and hid," Sora's face began to chuckle a bit from remembering the rest of the story, "but I hid for like an hour, because my brother didn't know how to count past ten so he went and played somewhere else."

They both continued to laugh as more stories were told.

"So where do you think Yuffie is?" asked Sora after they had calmed down.

"I don't know, probably still causing trouble in the mansion trying to take as many snapshots as possible." They laughed at the thought of her widely running around being chased by two burly men. "So why WERE you there Sora?"

Sora suddenly became very quite and Kairi realized he had tried to avoid talking about THAT.

"I…I was…" he stopped for a while before speaking, "I needed some advice and possibly some help from Riku."

Kairi didn't want to press the subject, she knew he would not tell her EVERYTHING, so she changed the subject.

"Well, I still need an interview with him." She sighed turning her head away.

Sora suddenly shot up, "Well I could get you one this week!"

"What? Really you could?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you!"

"Wow, thanks Sora, I really appreciate it." She gazed at her watch slightly. "Ohmagawd! It's late, I better get back to my apartment."

"Here, I'll walk you there, it can't be far."

In fact it WAS far, but neither cared, it took them an hour to walk to her apartment and on the way they conversed even more, Sora learned a lot about Kairi, and her dreams ever since she was a child to become a reporter. Sora likewise told her what his goal in life was. They were walking down the sidewalk with the dim glow of the street lam beaming down on them when he told her.

"What I've found in life, is that a lot of the time, people are so serious about petty things in their futile attempt to BUY happiness, when true happiness is something every individual person needs to find, the way I find it is by trying to bring a smile to someone's face, even if it's only one person. It makes me feel as if I have a purpose, instead of just wandering around in life."

Kairi absorbed his thoughts, "So that's why you became a cartoonist?"

"Haha, no, but this is one way for me to hopefully cheer people up."

"Are you any good?"

"What? You never saw any of them?"

"Well, I never really read the comic section."

"Gah! How is that possible! It's like, only the best part OF the paper! Why else would you possibly read a piece of scrap paper that tells you depressing things in life?" Kairi and Sora laughed again, they continued talking for a while, when they finally came to Kairi's apartment complex.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She softly spoke as she headed towards the door. As her hand gripped the doorknob…

"Wait! Miss Kairi…" Sora reached over and grabbed her hand, she turned around and they both were caught in each other's gaze.

"Yes…Sora…" She cooed as they both continued to blush. This moment staring into each other's eyes, seemed to last forever as they inched closer to one another. Kairi's auburn hair brushed to one side as she looked up at him with a helpless look. Sora's messy hazel hair spiked in ever direction falling over his eyes.

"I…I…"

WHAM!

"That's it I'm going to go look for Kairi she's been out for WAY too late!" yelled Yuffie as she exited the complex with Tidus yelling behind her.

"No, come on, she's a big girl she can…" both Yuffie and Tidus stared in front of them on the doorstep.

"…Take care…of herself." Tidus finished rather confused.

There on the doorstep was Sora and lying on top of him was Kairi in a very sexual position. Both had their eyes closed from the force that the door had knocked them over with. When their eyes cracked open, they realized what they were doing and both shot apart.

"Kairi…" Yuffie dragged her name on, with an evil grin growing on her face.

Kairi tried to protest, "Yuffie, its not what it looked like, you opened the door and…"

Tidus interrupted, "**YOU AND THE NEW GUY WERE JUST LOCKING LIPS!"** his mouth fell open as he pointed at her with an accusing finger.

"You naughty girl!" Yuffie smirked.

Both Kairi and Sora looked at each other a brief moment than quickly turned away, a mad blush on both of their faces.

"I can't wait till Cid hears this one." Kairi pouted.

Leon burst through the door a little frustrated. Not exactly the happiest camper at 3:00 AM in the Morning.

"What! What is it? Axel you better have found something or be dying... because I swear if you haven't found anything you WILL be dying."

Axel stood up from his comfy couch he had obviously dragged into the office so he could watch the television in his own comfortable style. "Aw don't get your cowboy britches in a knot. I have ACTUALLY found our GHOST." he exclaimed proudly. Taking a triumphant stance and bowing proudly. Motioning to the stack of 8 Tv's he had piled one on top of another

"Ugh…where did you get all those TV's…you know what I change my mind don't tell me." Slowly drudging over to the couch Leon took a seat. "Have you really been watching since earlier?" Squinty eye of amazement filled Leon's face.

"Don't look surprised man, I once watched all 3 Lord of the Rings AND the Harry Potter movies in one day."

"Is..Is that possible? Whatever get on with it. What did you find?"

"Okay you see buddy-pal, you and everyone else made the mistake of watching each camera individually! OR maybe last time they had teams because watching so many seemed a pain. BUT NO! That my friend is not how you find a clue."

Axel fumbled the 4 remotes to coordinate certain camera angle shots to the same time.

"Ok, this is the last video footage we have of Sora right…" On camera 4 a small boy was seen walking the halls with a bag, "As you can see he goes into his room, and then 10 minutes later his brother Roxas follows." as if on cue a little blonde boy runs past the camera into theta room. "Then after that no one is able to find Sora…Get it?"

"…Axel I don't see where this is going."

"Ugh, c'mon bro," he replied now rewinding back to the whole scenario again, except this time one TV had gone back 10 minutes earlier. "The clue that really tipped me off was when cameras 1-3 and 8-27 all ended at the same time. But 4-7 ended ten minutes later. That should't unless this videos had been tampered I looked back to 10 minutes before the last appearance of Sora and we get this…"

Sora walks by the camera holding a bag and a small blonde brother trailing behind.

"Brother whats the game this time?"

"I'll tell you in a second Roxas, just hold on I promise it'll be lots of fun."

"Ok stop, down that next hall to the left is the security room where, currently the night shift guard should be in, However, chances are he's probably asleep. cause he'll I know I would be."

"Please get on with it…" Leon mumbled rubbing his eyes.

"Ok well, After that, if you look here Sora comes back but Roxas, stays behind, Sora enters room stage right," He pointed to the camera on 4 again. "and no movement till 10 minutes later when Roxas enters as well. Soon to exit the room with a confused look on his face and the go back in again."

"So that confused look, probably means Sora wasn't there right, ok I get that part but what is this discovery you've made? I'm still waiting to hear it."

Axel stands up and walks over to the TV resting his hand on it with a big grin on his face, "Ok pal, I'll place all cameras infest motion this time between that 10 minute gap, and tell me what you see."

CLICK. In fast motion all cameras begin to display.

A minute goes by, intent staring is done but Mr. Leonheart. His eyes glancing back and forth squinting from all the images. And then…

"Stop it there!" Axel does accordingly.

"Hehe, so you caught it after all." he said as he sat back down.

"The shadows, and the light, in all other camera views the moons light is dimmed for a second, a passing cloud, but these four stay the same. These four would have been a straight shoot to an outside exit."

"Yessiree. Leon what we have here isn't a ghost, but a miniature Houdini."

"No," Leon said a little more grave, "What we have here isn't an abduction or disappearance," he looks at Axel "…it's a runaway!"

...

The room fell silent for a little both seemed to be thinking of there next move then suddenly like two cogs in a machine working in harmony.

"Axel if he were to leave on foot how long would it take to get to the train or bus station"

"Probably like 20 minutes, but all buses and trains are closed at this time he would have had to wait till morning."

"Go back and check the records for all outgoing tickets purchased that morning going out of town. FAR out of town, judging from his bag he was planning on heading somewhere pretty distanced from here. get me names, numbers, if children tickets were purchased, anything that could get us a lead."

"Got it boss. But I doubt anyone will be there this early…" Axel rushed up from the coach to get his coat. "Hey and what about you, you ain't just gonna stay HERE are you?"

"No, I'm going to go check and see what security camera recordings i can find of that time."

"(sigh)" Axel breathed looking a little depressed, "So I gotta watch MORE. Man this blows." He said before he shut the door.

SLAM

(A/N… haha, sre this was so long, I tried to put a little bit more romance in it, so please tell me how I did. R&R)


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N…I know it seems as if I'm just popping these chapters out like babies, but keep in mind I had this story thoroughly planned out WAY in advance! So please continue to R&R! I really like the ones I've gotten so far.)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own kingdom hearts…so why do I have to say that every time, it is so depressing? And it should be common knowledge as well…sigh…oh well.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXnew scene

**Chapter 5**

It was like the day after a wild office party, people whispered to one another as you walk by, giving you looks as if they know something you don't. That sums up how Kairi felt right now. The night before had been spent trying to explain to Yuffie and Tidus the situation, but to no avail.

So here she was, in the office room, having people smirk at her as they walk by. She obviously was not having a good morning…again. Her clothes were ruffled, she wore a messy bun in her hair, a black sweater and a tan skirt. As tossed and turned as she felt, she still looked incredibly good looking, aside from the tired, squinted eyes and the evil glares she sent bystanders.

'I swear, all those perverted bastards…especially Tidus…ooh I'm going to GET him.' Kairi maniacally schemed, she developed about one hundred ways to make Tidus's life a living hell in a very short amount of time. Many of them having to do with him losing a specific body part.

"PAAAAGE! In my office…NOW!" Cid's voice could be heard like a buffalo on steroids.

'Goddammit, 'the fuck does that bastard want.' She thought to herself.

Kairi trudged towards his office, as she approached she could see that he was not alone in the room, Sora was sitting in one of two chairs seated directly opposite of him.

"What's this all about?" She gave a questioning glance at Sora, but when their eyes met, he blushed and looked away, with Cid giving a great smirk.

'How do I get myself into these things…' Thought Sora, remembering his conversation with Cid minutes prior to this moment.

_Flashback_

"_So Avalon, tell me, is it true that you and Kairi were on a date last night?"_

"_Well sir I wouldn't call it a date, I was escorting her home."_

"_Yeah yeah yeah, I know how it goes, ya know I used to have a lady of my own, man she could turn me on faster than I can turn on an engine." Cid closed his eyes as a perverted redness filled his face, suddenly he came back to reality. "I usually don't like inter employee relationships, but I think I might let this one go, considering you scored with a girl who hasn't dated in years."_

_Sora's face grew red and he squeaked out, "Sir I didn't…uh…score…what I mean to say is…" He didn't have the words to say._

"_So how far did it go?" asked Cid, obviously enjoying Sora's discomfort._

"_What?… no…we didn't…it was coffee, then we went to her apartment…" trying to explain he only dug himself deeper._

"_Ooooh, so Yuffie was telling the truth, you got her to bring you into the apartment huh?"_

"_No! We were outside, I didn't even go in."_

"_Now this is starting to sound kinky…outside now?"_

_Sora just sat silent, bright red, he gave up trying to set things straight, it wasn't leading him anywhere._

"_Haaaahaa! Just kiddin' kid, anyways, I gotta speak ta both of ya anyway…PAAAAAGE!"_

_End of flashback_

'Really… how do I get mixed up in things like this? It must be that black cat I crossed on the way here.' Sora wondered. (A/N MEOW!)

Cid then interrupted his rather ADD train of thought. "Hey, wonder boy, quite staring off into space, here's the deal, Sora is going to take you back to the Jenova mansion to get information out of Riku, we NEED this article, it would make front pages!"

Silence before the storm.

"WHHHAAAATT?" Screamed Kairi and Sora in synchronization. Kairi pointed a finger at Sora.

"I don't need HIS help to get an interview!"

Sora tilted his head and gave a nervous smile, "Yes, she IS quite resourceful, I really don't think my services are needed."

'I can't risk going there again.' He thought to himself.

"Nonsense," said Cid, "YOU have a close relationship with that Riku guy, so I'm gonna play my cards off of that," Sora sat down in defeat. "AND, I doubt that the mansion secretary would be willing to let someone who broke in to have an interview." Cid glared at Kairi, she sat down in equally shameful defeat.

Sora looked at Kairi 'Yep, defiantly that cat'.

Kairi looked at Sora 'I can't believe this.'

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Cloud sat next to Aeris, softly touching his hand to her head.

'Her fever has gone up, this is not good.' He put a washcloth over her forehead and kneeled down beside her, staring into her face. Her face was calm and beautiful, she slept with such innocence that is seemed as if she was a child, but her features held more. One could see the wisdom that comes with old age in her face, although she was very young, she and cloud had had many great adventures.

Through the years they had set up many good organizations in the city, and also made sure no corruption had infiltrated the government system, which went very well for a while, until HE came.

Sephiroth had had power all of his life, born into a family of aristocracy, his resourcefulness and cunning were only exceeded by his need for more power, it was as if even ruling the world would never be enough. Sephiroth had challenged almost every thing the Strife's had done, and it was even found that he organized street crime, but of course, money can go a long way in court, and he was never found guilty.

Cloud was nearing his emotional limit, he could not stand have her leave him, Aeris was his comfort, the pillar for which he lived this life to making others lives better. Without her…

"Aeris, don't leave me."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Hey, bro, come look at this." Axel yelled into the next room.

Leon leaned into the doorway," What is it now?"

"So, after connecting the ticket purchase data, I picked out which passport he was using up till pretty recently. I've followed his trail throughout the past couple of years, it's amazing where he goes, Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, and there is no pattern to his movements, it's as if he's just sightseeing."

"Any phone calls or E-mails?"

"No, but there are records of letters being received here in the city from all of the corresponding places the prince was at the time."

"So that means he has a correspondent here in the city."

"But they weren't addressed to a specific area, in fact they were addressed to the public mailroom for a bar franchise. So it is personally delivered to individual people."

Leon pondered the next move. It was like a game of chess, except the opponent had already made his moves, now how was he going to counter? "Axel, see if the public mail room had a camera in it, most mailrooms have it regulation nowadays to have them to make sure no mail is tampered with. From there we will match the time of the letters getting received to the video footage, we might be able to find a common person."

Leon held up a picture photograph of Sora as a child, and stuck it to the computer monitor next to Axel. "It's like a game of hide and go seek." Leon walked out of the room, leaving Axel alone in the office again.

"Well could you at least buy me a cup of coffee! I hate playing hide and seek." Axel yelled over his shoulder.

No response.

"Dammit, this sucks."

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Sora and Kairi walked onto the subway train, only to find it crowded to the point where people almost couldn't fit in the cars.

'Even better', Kairi thought sarcastically, 'I get to get stuffed onto a overfilled subway car, great.' Kairi lodged herself into the car right beside Sora. Kairi had noticed that he had been very quite this whole time, not like his normal obnoxiously happy self. Glancing at him, she quietly asked him.

"Sora, are you all right?"

Sora only continued to stare off into the window. 'This is too dangerous, if someone there recognizes me, I'll be in a lot of trouble, not to mention it would get Miss Kairi involved.'

Suddenly a hand smacked the side of his head. "Hey stupid! Are you even conscious?" Sora then realized Kairi had been asking him a question for quite some time now.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just a little…nervous."

Kairi gave him a questioning look, "Nervous? About what?"

Sora stared at her, he knew he could not tell her his secret, but the pain of being alone was eating at his heart every day that passed.

"It's nothing really."

Kairi knew there was no way to press the subject and surrendered to a silent train ride.

Kairi began to wonder about him, 'What's this feeling, I want to know what makes him so sad, but he's not going to open up to me." She realized what she had said, 'Hah, as if he's open up to a person like me, I suppose I AM a little to harsh on him, maybe that's why he always looks at me that way with his eyes, those two…bright…blue…beautiful eyes. WAIT! No, I did not just think that!'

She smacked her head with her hand, which grasped Sora's attention.

"Miss Kairi are you okay?"

Kairi realized she had actually smacked herself and blushed at the realization of how close Sora's face was on this crowded train car.

"Um, yes, I'm fine, I just thought I saw a fly…on my head." 'Smart one Kairi."

"A fly…?"

"Yeah." She looked away from him to try and hide her redness. After a few minutes of silence she spoke to him without looking at him directly. "You know Sora, I really am grateful for your help, thanks for getting me some time with Riku."

Sora's mouth dropped, had she just given him a nice comment? His face softened and he gave her a small smile.

"No problem…"

The train suddenly jerked and any one who hadn't been grasping a train handle was thrown off balance.

This included Sora and Kairi.

Faces a centimeter apart, both didn't move, not to mention couldn't move, from their awkward position.

Sora on the bottom, arms around Kairi's waist. And Kairi on top, straddling him like a bull rider holding on for dear life to a bull.

The rest of the passengers stared awkwardly, Sora looked around turning beat red at this public display they were giving. He saw and old man curl his lips in a perverted smile.

'Oh now that's just gross' He thought. "Uh, miss Kairi, I think we should get off of each other.

"THIRD STOP JENOVA MANSION SQUARE" chimed the train intercom.

Kairi's red face went away immediately. "Ah it's our stop!" She grabbed his collar and pulled him off the train by his hand.

When she got to the open day in the square, after going through the rest of the station, Kairi was stopped by Sora.

"Um…Miss Kairi." He said sheepishly, his cheeks turning bright red.

"What?"

Sora pointed to their conjoined hands.

"Gah!" She let go of his hand, had she been holding it the entire way? "I'm sorry Sora, I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's fine, let's get you to that interview before it's too late."

"Okay." She agreed as they both headed towards the gigantic mansion.

The rest of the day had gone very smoothly, Kairi was sitting in a room with Riku, interviewing him on his thoughts about Aeris, as Sora stood outside of the room with the door cracked open so he could manage to see them.

"And as far as we are concerned politically…" Riku continued to speak to Kairi as she jotted down notes and nodded her head. Sora had talked to Riku before hand, and made sure that nothing would be said concerning himself.

'I should not be here right now, Miss Kairi means a lot to me, but the risk I'm taking is too great.'

He then peeked in through the crack of the door.

'Wow, Kairi really does look beautiful when she's focused like that, I can't believe someone like her wouldn't be famous or anything. I bet she could be a famous model.'

Realizing his thoughts, he turned his head downwards, to face away from the view of Kairi.

"Oy, what are you doing here?" Said a voice coming down the hall.

Sora turned surprised, only to find a person he did not want to come in contact with. Especially now.

It was Kadaj. He wore a suit of leather, which looked like it was from a biker convention, a sword draped behind him. He strutted over to Sora and awaited an answer. Sora, standing there in a partially unbuttoned shirt and pants, slowly came up with his excuse.

"I'm here with a journalist for THE OATHKEEPER. We're interviewing Riku."

Kadaj looked at him as if he were speaking a different language. Obviously he did not recognize Sora, but that was probably because they had never come into much contact before.

Then his face twisted into one of anger. "Are you here to write bad stuff about brother?" He drew his sword and pointed it at Sora. "I'll kill you!"

'Goddamit, I should of seen this coming' Sora cursed himself. Kadaj was not the smartest of people, but he thought like a child, and above all, he treasured Riku and his father. 'I can't get in a fight with him or I might get found out.'

"Yeaaaaaa!" Kadaj charged at Sora.

A flash of white. Kadaj did not expect it to be over so quick, as he lay on the floor, his own sword being pointed at him, he stared into the face of his own brother.

"Brother…why?" Standing above him was his own brother Riku.

"Kadaj, we do not harm guests. Please apologize to them."

Kairi then came through the door that Riku had so swiftly flown through in a flash.

"What's going on?" She surveyed the scene with worried eyes. "Sora are you okay?"

Silence.

Sora cursed inside his mind. 'She's done it.'

Kadaj, looked at the brown-headed figure, with shocked eyes, and within seconds turned to bloodlust.

"Sora is it?" he gave a malicious smile. "I shall be very pleased if we meet again sometime." Kadaj, stood up and brushed off the dirt from his shoulder, then taking his sword from Riku. "Sorry, for causing the trouble." He turned and left with devilish eyes and a toothy smile.

The three watched as he walked away. Sora and Riku knew that Kadaj had suspected and would soon make his move.

"Sora, Kairi, forgive me but I have other matters to attend to." He looked at Sora and gave him a look to get out of the mansion as fast as possible.

"Yes, thank you for letting us come." The hidden words they were speaking were completely oblivious to Kairi.

"But wait, I'm not done."

"No Miss Kairi, it's getting late we should be going." He grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Kairi, who had never seen this powerful side of Sora, could not help but be dragged along, confused.

"But…" was all she could speak.

He burst through the door of the mansion, making his way past the train station, he didn't have time to wait for a train, they had to get as far away from there as possible as quickly as possible.

"Sora just what is going on here?" Kairi yelled as the pushed past person by person.

They neared a coffee shop and as Sora was about to pass it…

WHAM

The door of the shop opened and Kairi and Sora fell to the ground.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." The tall, brown-headed man picked up his spilt cup and threw it in the trash. "Well, Axel's gonna be pissed."

Sora and Kairi, still a little dazed, rose to their feet. "Miss Kairi are you alright?" Sora diverted his yell at the clumsy idiot who…

That's when it happened…

Squall Leonheart, eyes wide open, stared into the face of…

"Sora Strife?" He spoke.

This caught Sora's attention. Leon quickly drew out a picture of Sora as a child and looked down at it, there was no mistaking it, although he was older, it was definitly him. Leon drew out his gun and when he looked back up to see his new find, he was gone.

"What the…" He looked around and saw a brown and an auburn couple pushing through the crowd. "Hey you come back here!"

The chase ensued.

(A/N Well, im making what seems to be futile attempts at adding romance to the story, but anyways, I know some things may seem confusing, especially how sora and riku know each other, but don't worry, all will be revealed in chapter six in OPAP. Later!)


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom hearts.**

**XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX new scene**

**Chapter 6**

Like trying to swim against a flowing current of water, Sora pushed through person after person. The shouts of the man behind him could be heard constantly.

"Hey you! Someone stop that man!"

Sora continued to put distance between them. How did this man know who he was? Why was he looking for him? These questions and not to mention several more were flooding his mind.

'I can't let him catch me, he must be police or something, somehow he had my picture."

Leon likewise was struggling through the streets. In a city where murder and thefts were common, where corrupt officials like Sephiroth dealt most of the cards, no one was too concerned with one man yelling for another to stop.

"Goddammit! Get out of the way this is the police!" Leon expected that to get some people to move out of his way. Sadly this didn't happen.

Kairi was being pulled along like a child pulling a rag doll. "Sora stop that's a police officer! You need to…"

Sora cut her off, "Kairi not now!" The harshness and power in his voice, it had been the first time he had not called her 'miss' Kairi, and it struck her very hard, she suddenly remembered the first time they met that day before work. Had his face always looked like that? Why all of a sudden had the funny joking Sora been replaced with this new Sora?

"Sora…"

BAM…BAM. BAM.

Kairi and Sora ducked at the sound of gunfire, as well as other citizens. Leon stood their triumphant. It was amazing how a simple gunshot in the air could do much more than ALL the yelling in the world, the people automatically parted like Moses and the red sea. A clear path could be seen and at the end of it…was the Strife legacy.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"You called me father?" Riku walked into the main dining room of his mansion, sitting at the far end of the table was his father, Sephiroth, and next to him was Kadaj, leaning back on to legs of the chair like a child.

"Kadaj informed me of his misconduct earlier towards our…guests."

'Shit, he probably knows.' "Yes, it was very uncalled for." Replied Riku. He knew how to show emotion, this was a test. His father was most likely trying to pry information out of him, but he knew better.

"A reporter from the newspaper… and a man…I forget what he was there for…" Sephiroth turned to Riku with a small grimace. "Can you remember what he was there for?"

The first test, "I believe he was another employee of the paper." Riku dodged it.

"I wonder why he was standing outside the door." Kadaj casually smiled.

Second test, "I'm sure that Kairi wanted her privacy." Another one dodged.

Then Sephiroth stood up and turned the opposite way, back towards Riku. "Yes but surely there was nothing that Sora could hear that would interrupt your interview."

Third test…

'Shit, I dropped Kairi's name, now he hits me with Sora's. There is no right answer to this…'Riku turned to leave and grunted, "Well if that's all father." Briskly walking to the door, he was four steps away, his father and brother still at the end of the room…

…Three steps away…

…Two steps away…both of them still at the end of the room…

…One step away…

"Who said you could leave?" A cold hand grabbed his shoulder, behind him stood Sephiroth.

"Heh," Riku gave a nervous laugh, "using your speed in a place like this, that's unlike you father."

"Your changing the subject, if I recall, there was a boy that looked remarkably like that man who was here earlier, his name was also Sora, you and Sora were friends if I recall correctly as well, when was the last time you saw this boy…"Sephiroth smirked and his eyes were ablaze with triumph, "…this boy from the Strife family."

Twenty years earlier…they were both six and seven.

"_Riku, you and I are best friends right?" a hazelnut haired boy said as he passed a red ball to his friend, who caught it and spoke back._

"_Yeah Sora, you and I will be best friends forever."_

_Sora nodded to his silver haired companion, both had fierce blue eyes that burned with adventure and the capability for success. But then Sora grew grim and continued._

"_So why do our Daddy's fight? Why can't they play ball like us?"_

"_I don't know, maybe they don't like each other."_

_Sora looked down as the ball stopped in his hands, he stood up and looked down at the ball he was holding, his eyes unable to be seen. "Riku…" he said, his voice starting to shake._

"_Yes?" Riku tilted his head in a curious fashion._

_They playground they were in slowly disappeared as the next words slowly spilled out of Sora's mouth. "Have you ever seen someone die…?" His hands began to shake, and his finger twitched._

_Riku was not expecting this and crossed his arms and thought about it. "No, I don't think I have, I did in a video game though. Does that count?"_

"_No…I mean, to see them yell, and then stop moving…" though his eyes were unseen, a tear was visible sliding down his face. Riku wasn't sure why Sora was acting like this, they had come to this park secretly for many years to play with each other, but they had never had a conversation like this._

"_Sora, are you alright?"_

"_Riku, the other day, I was in the car with my daddy, and then a bunch of mean looking guys got on the window, so daddy got out and took out this big weapon, he fought with them and then I saw your daddy come out of a shadow, and…and…" Sora started shaking violently and he dropped the ball, which rolled to Riku._

_Riku looked at the red sphere in fear, afraid it contained some virus that had infected his friend. "Sora…what happened?"_

"_They…sniff…they were yelling, and some of them screamed as the died, the car driver told me not to look, and one of the body guards covered my eyes, but I could still hear the screams…even daddy's guards, your daddy's guards…when I looked again, they were all on the ground, one was still moving…sniff…"Sora's knees collapsed and he started crying hysterically._

_Riku jumped up and ran to Sora, hugging him, "Sora, it will be ok, someday they will be friends."_

_Just the Riku was torn away by an icy-looking woman, whose face could not be deciphered in the memory. Leaving behind a sobbing Sora._

"_Riku dear, come along, I won't have you sneaking out to mingle with…"she gave a gross look at Sora,"…the filth of the city. It's because of people like him that these poor infidels are dying."_

"_Mother!" Riku looked at his mother begging her to let go._

_Sora stopped shaking and whispered to himself. "It's because of me…?"_

_The next day, Riku, snuck out of his house to the park where Sora had met him earlier. Riku looked around, expecting to see Sora waiting for him. They were best friends after all right?_

_After hours of waiting and hoping for a sign, Riku walked over to the jungle gym and lay on his back, his small body exhausted. He closed his eyes and slowly listened to the hustle and bustle of the cit, the cars driving by, the people talking, as he slowly drifted off to sleep._

_Riku snapped awake from his dream, he had dreamt that Sora's voice was next to his ear, it had whispered, "Riku, if I'm not here, no one will die anymore, and things will be better. Goodbye."_

_Riku shook his head, what a peculiar dream, but it had seemed so real, then he felt something crumple in his jacket._

A letter…it read…

Deer Riku,

I dident want to wake you from yor sleep. I am very sory for not saying goodbi but I had sum crayons and paper so here is a leter. I am going away so no one will get hert, ill write you again. You are stil my bestest friend ever.

Sora

Present…

"I don't remember what happened to him, didn't he get kidnapped, surely your doing." Riku said in a cold voice.

Sephiroth was taken aback by Riku's cold glare. "Indeed, you don't know. Well, you may leave I suppose."

Riku left the room and left the door a crack open as he left. The room now only occupied by Sephiroth and Kadaj, Kadaj spoke up, "Father, what shall we do now?"

Sephiroth walked over to a table near the door that held a vase with purple roses blooming out of it. "We shall continue with our plans for tomorrow night, we will now end this controversy between houses," A swift, undeterminable movement was made by Sephiroth, the curtains around him flew sideways as if gusted by wind, and a large sword was now seen in his hand, "starting with the mother of the strife family."

The flowers beautiful petals shattered into the air cut by his slash.

"…Just like that."

It was getting dark, the night-lights had turned on in the streets, the temperature was dropping, and Sora could now see his breath as he gasped for air. Kairi was in no better condition, he heels had broken long ago and she was as disheveled as Sora. They had momentarily lost Leon in a crowd, but they had accomplished this before only to have him surprise them seconds later.

"Damn, we don't have much time before he finds us…" Sora spoke to himself. 'It's like he has a sixth sense.'

Kairi was leaning against a wall in the ally. She had long ceased in trying to receive information from Sora, and stopped attempting to slow him down. "This is ridiculous! Where the hell are we?" Kairi took a moment to survey the scene and leaned out from the alley to view the street sign.

"What does it say?" Sora asked from afar, bending over to catch his breath.

"It says…Midgar lane…hm, never heard of it before."

"Midgar lane," Sora stood up and ran over to Kairi, "That means…Tifa…" slowly he contemplated his next move. Folding his arms he leaned against a nearby wall.

"Stop right there!"

Sora was jolted back to reality from his thoughts at gunpoint. Leon had appeared out of nowhere, not only taking Sora by surprise but Kairi as well. He was panting hard, obviously put through many obstacles, but he was too determined to let them get away.

"Huff…huff…okay, I want answers now…huff…you are Sora Strife correct?"

"Kairi interrupted him, "No! You have the wrong person, his name is Sora Avalon!"

Her statement was only to be shot down by Sora, "Kairi." Was all it took to silence her.

"…Sora…" She echoed.

"Well, which is it?" Leon waited patiently for an answer.

"I am Sora…Strife."

"Okay, now, I am going to need to take you into custody Mr. Strife."

Sora looked down at the ground, thoughts rushing through his mind. They all stood there for a while, no one choosing to break the silence, until Leon grew impatient.

"Let's go Mr. Strife." The gun in his hand motioned for them to move.

Suddenly Sora looked up and spoke, his voice filled with determination. "I'm sorry officer, but I can't come with you, not yet. There is still a lot that I need to fix."

"Too bad, you're coming!" Leon cocked his gun but before his trigger finger could go back to it's place, the gun was shot out of his hands.

"…The hell?" Leon gripped his hand, his gun fell with a hole straight through the side, he turned his gaze from the weapon to where the shot had come from.

Standing there was a man covered in a black hoody, covering his face in a shadow. A silver gun barely visible, but his hand could not be seen, only the gun barrel, with a trail of smoke still pouring out of it.

"Who are you? I'm part of the police…" Leon began but was interrupted.

"I know damn well who you are, now if you don't leave, I'll shoot you're scrawny ass up so much not even an autopsy will find out who you is." The voice of a full-grown man was heard from underneath the hood.

Leon knew a fib when he heard one, he gave a smile and stood at full height "That wouldn't be a good idea on you're part. I have connections, and they will find out who you are…"

THUD

Leon fell to the ground unconscious. A second person had appeared out of the shadows.

"Damn, he has a hard head." This girl wore a cloak as well, but her stature was a lot smaller than the other males.

"Quite your whining, let's get them outta here." Said the first figure.

"But Barret! What do we do with this guy?" Said the second.

The first threw off his hood to reveal a black man with scruff covering his chin. "Dammit Rikku! I was trying to be all cool and mysterious, now you just revealed who I was!"

The second threw off her hood, "Well ya know, it's not every day you see a man with a gun for a hand!" She retorted.

Sora stood perplexed, where had they come from? Was this Tifa's doing?

"Barret? Rikku? Is that really you guys?" Sora interrupted, as they both were about to brawl with each other, suddenly their expressions changed.

"Hey! Sora ma boy, how you doing? Man, you've grown a lot!"

Rikku leaned in close to Sora, almost too close for Sora's comfort. "Wow, you sure have gotten cute." Sora slightly blushed.

Kairi, on the other hand, gave up at this point trying to understand what was happening.

"Where's Tifa? Is she alright?" Sora questioned them.

"Yeah, she still owns her bar, come on, we'll take you there. Hurry though, before this lump gets up." Rikku motioned for them to get moving.

"Come on Kairi." Sora tugged on Kairi's hand but she didn't budge.

"No…Sora…"

"Miss Kairi, what's wrong?" He stared into her cerulean eyes, but she denied any eye contact with him and shut her eyes as she yelled.

"What do you mean what's wrong? First you know that Riku guy, then a police officer chases us, now some hoodlums are trying to take us to someone named Tifa! I don't know about you, but I say, what ISN"T WRONG?"

There was a silence between them as Rikku whispered, "Hoodlums?" (A/N moment wrecker)

"Kairi," once again, he said her name without 'miss'. It rolled off his tongue and to her it sounded like sweet music, she opened her eyes and stared into his, "I know I've dragged you into this, but please, just stay with me a little longer, I promise, I will explain everything."

Silence. Kairi's mad face softened, tears swelled in her eyes, and she began to tremble.

"O…Okay Sora…"

She placed her arms around him, needing to be held.

"…I'll stay with you."

(A/N PLEASE! READ AND REVIEW!)


	7. Chapter 7

(A/N- hey everybody, my greatest apologies for not updated in forever, but I have REALLY had a lot to do…no joke, I'm sure you all understand. Well, I plan to end this series at the tenth chapter so please, if you want me to continue feel free to drop any ideas by me.)

**Chapter 7**

"…I'll stay with you."

Kairi held Sora, and Sora held Kairi. And for a moment all that was going through her mind melted into nothing. She looked up at Sora and slowly she felt her face coming closer to his…closer…closer still…and then…

…She blacked out.

Yuffie walked home down the sidewalk of this dark alleyway. Most young women would not dare walk down a dark alleyway, even if it was a shortcut home, but Yuffie was a confident woman, she worried more about what she would do to ANY person who tried to rape HER.

"I'll give 'em some good 'ol ninjutsu right to the pelvis!" Making kicking noises while she fought invisible rapists, not to mention carrying groceries was definitely not abnormal…nope…not for Yuffie.

Unfortunately her battle with the invisible men was cut short as she heard a noise.

"Ugh…" It groaned.

"Ack!" She yelled dropping her bags. "Who's there?" fumbling through her pocket she pulled out a bottle of mace. "I'm warning you. Stay away!"

She saw something creeping towards her from the shadows of the alley near her.

Holding her bottle in a shaking hand she aimed it at the figure. "S..Stay back."

Then the figure slumped to the ground and the face of a good looking brown headed man with a scar across his face fell into the light of the street lamp. "H…He…Help me."

"Omigosh!" Yuffie ran over to the man and helped him sit up. "Are you alright? We need to get you to safety." She noticed that he had a gun holster and a slightly bleeding injury on the back of his head.

He pulled a cell phone out of his jacket with a trembling hand and pressed speed dial, "…tell…cough…tell him to come to the corner of Midgar and pick me…cough…pick me up…" his hand gave way and the cell phone hit the ground. Yuffie picked it up and heard a ring on the other end. She held it close to her ear when she heard…click…

"OY! Leon, where you been you fucker, I'm here working my ass off and I still don't have no damn coffee!" the voice over the phone yelled.

Silence.

"Hey…You there bro?"

Silence still.

"Leon, I swear if you picked up a hoar…"

Yuffie lightly spoke. "Um, I take it Leon is the guy with the scar that's unconscious in front of me. Right?"

"…Dude…" The voice whispered. "Leon actually bought a hoar…? SWEET! FINALLY!"

"Now wait a minute you motherfucking pervert! I'm no hoar! I just found you're friend unconscious and he gives me his phone to call you!"

"What? Are you serious? Is he okay? What happened?

"I don't know, but he wanted me to tell you to come pick him up here at the corner of Midgar."

She could hear the rustling of a coat being put on and a door closing shut. "'Kay, Midgar Lane, gotcha toots."

Yuffie mumbled back over the phone. "I'm not your toots, and by the way, who is this? His brother?"

"HAHA, no way. The name is Axel. Got it memorized? I'll be there in a few minutes, just hold him there and don't worry you're pretty little face off."

Before she could retort to his sexual comments, he hung up. Yuffie lay back next to this so called 'Leon'. She turned her head to look at him, he seemed so peaceful, or maybe it was because of severe pain and unconsciousness, but who cared?

Deciding to pass the time away, she reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet. Looking through his cards and cash, not to mention pocketing a few bucks, figuring she had just saved the guy's life, she noticed three things.

The first thing. His badge.

"Holy shit, this guy's a cop!"

The second thing. His License.

"I knew his name wasn't Leon, Squall huh, I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

The third thing. A picture…

"…wait a second…is that…Sora?"

She was warm; she could smell hot cocoa and a slight scent of a cherry perfume. Slowly opening her eyes, Kairi pulled herself up and took in her surroundings.

She was on a couch, a soft blanket protecting her body, the room was dimly lit with candles, a soft fire glowed in the fireplace and the light danced off the portraits and pictures hanging on the walls. And next to her there was a coffee table, and laying on it, asleep was…

"Sora…" his name softly escaped her lips. How had she gotten here? Where was 'here'?

"Hey you're finally awake." Kairi turned to see a woman come through the door to the room, she wore a white collared shirt, unbuttoned at the very top, her long black hair let down so that her bangs help shape her face and the curves of her body. She had an apron on that read "7th Heaven Bar and Grill" At first Kairi thought the woman was in her mid-twenties, but when the black-haired beauty came to sit next to her on the couch, Kairi saw that her eyes held years of wisdom…and pain. Her soft features gave off an aura that made Kairi comfortable.

Setting a tray down with some food and hot chocolate she spoke again. "You know he didn't leave you at all since you guys got here." Indicating towards Sora.

"W…What? Sora?"

"Yeah, say, you guys aren't an item are you?" The lady leaned in with a smile, seeing Kairi blush slightly said more than words could.

"W…What? No, we're just coworkers, I could never…"She turned to look at Sora, his head tilted and his chest rising and falling to a slow beat, he looked so…handsome.

'No way did I just think he looked…handsome…no…and who is she to say we're a couple?'

"Miss, may I ask who you are, and where I am?" Kairi quickly tried to change the topic of her and Sora.

The other woman stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I suppose that's a fair question, you're in the 7th Heaven, only the greatest pub around." She winked with a smile. "And I'm the wise and powerful owner of this fine establishment, the names Tifa, Tifa Lockheart. Nice to meet you Kairi." She extended a hand.

Kairi extended hers cautiously. "How did you know my name?"

Looking at Sora she said, "Sora gave me the whole story, your fine."

Kairi suddenly came to the realization of what that meant.

"Wait! So you know why all this stuff is happening?" Kairi desperately wanted answers and hopefully she would give them to her.

Tifa's face became grimmer, "That's a fair question as well, but it won't be the same coming from me, I think Sora should tell you himself when he wakes up. Come on, I'll take you to the front and we can talk with everyone else there." Tifa stood and pulled Kairi by the hand to the door.

"…Everyone else?"

"Sir…um, there is someone here to see you." Riku's Secretary Namine hesitantly spoke.

"Nam, can't you see I'm busy, this is work that has to be done today and I'm behind schedule."

Namine lowered her eyes and stammered. "Y…Yes Mr. Riku. I'll tell the gentleman to come back later." She left the room and the room was quiet…until…

"NO I WON"T COME BACK LATER!" The door to Riku's office burst open and in came a furious Roxas.

"Well, well, Roxas Strife, this is an odd occurrence, I take it my family doesn't know you're here, or you wouldn't be standing there." Riku said with a smirk. Namine came rushing in.

"Sir, I'm terribly sorry, he just…"

"Don't worry about it Nami. Why don't you take the day off," he looked at her with steal blue eyes, showing a kindness rarely shown. "You've been working almost as hard as me."

"Y…Yes sir. I suppose I will. Um, well, goodnight then sir." She bowed and left the room a small blush of embarrassment on her face.

Riku's attention now turned to Roxas. "So what brings you here?"

"I came to ask you some questions." He glared at Riku.

"Questions, well, I'll be a good sport this once, usually I'm not too friendly to your family so…"

"Where's Sora." Roxas interrupted.

Riku stopped talking, caught off guard by this; did Roxas know that Sora was here in the city? Did information slip somehow? No, he couldn't know, Riku would play it cool, not let his guard down.

"What's with that question, hasn't he been gone for a while, why would I know where he is. Last I heard he was dead."

Roxas slammed his fist onto the table. "Dammit, don't tell me lies that you don't care, you used to be his best FRIEND!"

Shot through the heart, but he wasn't going to let anything slip.

"I don't know what you're talking about, now please leave me alone, or I'll inform the guards." Riku turned his chair so he was facing away from Roxas.

Roxas didn't move, and a moment of awkward silence followed. "My mother…" Riku turned his head slightly to listen. "…She's dying, her last request is for me to find him, and I swear, even if it means my death, I will find him, I'll make him come back." And with that Riku heard the door slam as Roxas left.

"Damn fool, he's getting himself into deeper water than he's used to." Riku said shaking his head.

As Roxas was leaving the corridor a soft voice interrupted him.

"That's very sweet of you." It was Namine; she was at her desk in front of Riku's office wing. "To want to give your life to make someone close to you happy." She turned her eyes toward the ground with a sad tone. "I've never seen someone here in this house so loving."

Roxas tilted his head, "Aren't you supposed to be on a day off?"

Namine sighed, "Yes, I suppose so, but then I realized that I've never left Riku for over two years, it's not that I love him or anything, it's just…" She turned her head to look out the window down onto, "…I admire him, in this world of cold hearted people, his heart still has goodness, even though he doesn't admit it. Kinda like you." She looked at him kindly.

Roxas blushed a little bit and then asked, "Hey, if you're that bored, do you want to go out to eat," he looked away, trying to look more profound. "You know, not like a date, just, to pass time away." He peeked at her to wait her response. She WAS kind of cute.

Namine gave a smile. "Sure, that'd be great."

"Well good mornin' beautiful!" Rikku happily squeaked as she flipped some pancakes in the cooking area of the bar.

"Rikku, I hope you don't go and mess up those pancakes, I'm a hungry, and god damned if I have to eat your bullshit cooking again." Grumbled Barret sitting at one of the tables.

It had started raining, outside the soft patter of rain was heard against the windows, and the bar's 'closed' sign shown bright. The bar was very simple, almost like any other, except on the walls there were articles and pictures hanging in various places. Soft neon lights lit behind the counter, and low hanging lamps lit the tables as well as a few scattered pool tables.

"You are already familiar with Rikku and Barret, but you still need to meet the rest of the staff, Barret is our cook, and Rikku is one of four of our waitresses."

Kairi turned towards Tifa. "Four?"

"Yeah, including me, this place would have burned to the ground if only Rikku worked here." Kairi surprisingly turned to see a woman with dirty colored hair and a black leather suit playing pool at one of the tables. "The names Paine."

"Paine?" Kairi thought 'what an odd name, I bet there's a reason she has it though.'

The through the front door burst through two people. One good looking brunette with one blue eye and a green eye, dressed in a cow boyish style.

"Come one Marlene; let's show daddy what we bought at the store." She said.

The other, a small girl with a bright smile dressed in a very extravagant hat and shopping bags came through, slightly wet from the rain.

"Daddy! Look, Yuna helped me pick out clothes so I can look pretty for you!" She ran over into Barret's arms and gave him a hug, looking like a rag doll compared to the burly man.

"Honey, you don't need to go spend all my money on expensive stuff to look good." Barret took a good look at the small girl, slightly disappointed that her dad didn't compliment her. "But you DO look older, and very beautiful, isn't that right Paine." Barret desperately turned to Paine for support.

Paine dully looked up from her game, "Dashing." Then resumed. Marlene shined with happiness and went off to play in her room.

Tifa then spoke up. "Well there are the other two, Yuna and Marlene."

"Wait, the little girl works?"

"Well," Tifa scratched her head. "Informally she does."

Everybody began to resume where they were, Tifa started wiping the tables, almost as if it was a habit, Barret scrutinized Rikku, Paine Started a new pool game. And Yuna sat down and started reading her book. Kairi, not sure of what to do, began to walk around the pub reading the various articles and looking at the different pictures, her questions would have to wait till Sora woke up.

She found many articles having to do with the two royal families, one having to do with a rumor that Cloud Strife had cheated on his wife, but at the end concluding it just a rumor. Others were postcards sent from different parts of the world, and after she passed pictures of the Strife Family she found herself staring at the corner of one of the walls.

"Tifa, what are these?" Kairi called over to Tifa. Tifa put her towel down and came over to what she was looking at, standing next to her, a small smile crept across Tifa's face, and she placed her hands on one of the frames.

"They were Sora's first Comic strips in a newspaper over in Twilight Town. He was so happy that he sent me the papers and I got them framed.

Kairi examined them, they all had animal characters, a mouse named Mickey, a Dog named Goofy, and a rambunctious duck named Donald. She let out a chuckle after reading a few. They WERE pretty funny, it occurred to her that she never really read Sora's comics, she then felt pretty mad at herself.

Yuna came over and put her hand on Kairi's shoulder, "You know, he really is a sweet guy, so how did you two meet?"

Kairi turned a bit red, "Well, actually, it started with a bike crash…"

She then began her long story of how they got into their present situation…

Leon struggled to open his eyes; his head hurt like an atomic bomb had gone off in it.

"Oy, Leon, get up you lazy ass, I'm tired of being here with this tomboy." A red head said from across the room.

"Who you calling a tom boy you freaky mop head!" Yelled Yuffie from the other, her fist raised.

"Mop- head! Why I oughtta…" The two then began to glare at each other. But before they could start their attacks Leon interrupted.

"Hey Axel, I got good news."

Axel, interested now with Leon's information tilted slightly. "Really? Wait, you NEVER have good news with out bad news."

"I suppose I have that too." Leon chuckled.

Axel crossed his arms and pouted. "I knew it, damn. Well, spill it."

Leon sat up from the couch he was laying on and looked Axel in the eye and spoke solemnly. "I found him. I found the guy we're looking for."

"Whoa really?"

"…but he got away."

Axel slumped down on a chair. "Dammit." He pounded the table. "So at least we know he's in the city. But where…"

Yuffie, determined to make her presence known, stood up and held out the picture she had found on Leon. "I take it you guys are looking for this guy, Sora Avalon. Well, I happen to know where he lives."

Leon and Axel both jumped up and stared at Yuffie, this was one major coincidence. "No way…" they both gawked.

Yuffie held up one finger and swayed it from side to side. "ah-ah-ah, but before I help you two fine detectives," she turned with a smirk, "I want to know the whole story. Why are you looking for him, what do you want with Sora Avalon?"

Leon regained his composure, "Fair enough, we'll tell you…" Yuffie turned her head to look at him. "First of all, his name isn't Sora Avalon…

…it's Sora Strife."

(A?N- once again, sorry for the late update, please read and review :3)


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